We’ve had conspiracy stories based on the Illuminati (Angels & Demons), Freemasons(From Hell) and Priory of Scion (The Da Vinci Code), so now it’s time for the Pythagoreans. The legend goes that Pythagoras set up a religious/mathematical cult in Croton before being chased out of the city and killed. His followers divided into two groups, the mathēmatikoi and the akousmatikoi. The mathēmatikoi were the more mathematical or scientific group and the akousmatikoi were more religious. The differences between these groups form the basis of Kevin Guilfoile’s The Thousand. The book is a combination of The Eight by Katherine Neville and Dan Brown’s multiple conspiracy novels. So what are the Pythagoreans up to?

Reggie Vallentine (named after Eddie Murphy’s first twomovies?) is a Chicago Johnny Cochran. He made his name successfully defending genius millionaire Solomon Gold from the charge of murdering a young musician he was having an affair with (even though he thinks Gold is guilty). Later Gold is killed and Vallentine injured in an attack from the victim’s family.

Ten years later Gold’s daughter Canada (known as Nada), who had an electronic device called a spider installed in her brain to help with ADHD, is a genius card player, jury consultant and able to read people faster and more accurately than anyone else. As Nada gets brought into the conspiracy between the two sides of the Pythagorean cult (who can crash planes or cause natural disasters by way of advanced math) her life starts being at risk. Included in the story are an artist who had his spider taken out and now yells rhymes as part of a musical act when he’s not painting kitchen tiles which may (or may not) be able to be put together into a giant mosaic. Wayne, the security lead for a Vegas casino is in love with Nada and finds himself accused of murder and on the run trying to save her. Throw in a new (and possibly mathematically inclined) version of Mozart’s Requiem and you have more conspiracies than you can handle.

The book works by the sheer energy of the writing and the characters, especially Nada who’s part Daddy’s girl and part super hero. The relationship between Nada and Wayne and their storylines are well done and the best part of the book. The book drags when it talks about the mathematical conspiracies and the electronic devices in the head. These are interesting subplots that ultimately go nowhere. The book would have been better had they either been dropped or expounded on. But for a book with so many loose ends to be so well done, shows great writing by Kevin Guilfoile. His writing makes the book worth reading. If only he could have pulled together the plot better, then it could have been a great book instead of just a good one.